Anatomy of a Pen and Ink Drawing From Concept to Finish

Hello, my name is Richard Serrao. I’m the co-owner of Optimum Wound and I’m also a graphic black and white artist.

The purpose of this Column today is to give a little insight into the creative process I employ, along with some of the tools I use. Which I’ll also show and talk about how I use them.

Above is the type of India ink I use right now. it’s super black, dries very fast and is incredibly affordable. For some of you that can’t see the type, it’s Speedball Super Black India Ink. This is by far the best version of India ink I’ve ever used. I hope this company sticks around and keeps making this type of Ink. It seems as though as soon as you get comfortable with one type of ink the company goes belly up. Sorry have a tendency to ramble a bit sometimes. Btw, when I work I never dip my brushes or nibs directly into the big bottles. I prefer to pour a little quantity in a small bowl or container and work from there. It cuts down on messy spills and cleanups.

This is a nib holder and I have three of these babies for the nibs I use the most. Having multiples of these holders are a must for me, it saves on time and having to constantly search for the nibs. I just leave my nibs in their respective holders and go to work as I need them.

This is a 102 speedball crow quill nib, it’s very sharp and creates an incredibly thin line for drawing. You have to be careful though as it tends to bite into your boards if you don’t pay attention and use too much pressure. They also break very easily as well, so caution is advised when using.

Above is just 2 examples of the different size paintbrushes I use to fill in black areas while working on a piece of artwork. Truth be told I have over 40 brushes which I purchased very cheaply for under 20.00 Canadian wholesale. To this date I’ve never used all of them but I feel it’s good to have a backup just in case you need it.

Here are Pigma Micron pens which I use to replace a regular technical pen. They dry super fast and are acid free and never yellow. They also come in a variety of sizes and are extremely affordable. Personally my favourite type of Micron pen. They are made by Sakura and can be found at any decent art store or you can order online here: http The numbers I use are 01,02,03 and 05 and when you buy them in a 3 pack like this you end up saving quite a bit too.

Go here to find lightboxes: www.artograph.com

Yes I use a light box when I work. Why? It makes everything so much easier, along with speeding up the creation process. Once I get my template down, I then light box it directly to the board I’m working on and then once I finish my lines, I start to spot my blacks. Midway my artwork looks something like this:

Once I have a clear idea where all of my blacks will go that’s when I start to ink the piece. Sometimes as I ink I add in details that wasn’t there to begin with. Most of the times it works out. Here’s the finished version of “3 Zombies”.

For all of the detail work on this image I used a 01,02 and 03 Micron Pigma micron pens and then darken all of the lines around the black areas where I still haven’t begun to fill in the spaces with a 05 micron pen and then once I’m finished doing that I then fill in the blacks with a paintbrush. The size of the paintbrush varies, sometimes when I’m tired and I don’t have great eye-hand coordination I use a big flat nib, wish I could tell you the size but this nib has been with me the better part of 16 years and the numbers have rubbed off of it.

The same idea of working applies to commissions. Once I’ve worked out the details with the client I then proceed by doing an image without the blacks filled in and then show it to the client as a rough unfinished piece. if the client gives me the thumbs up I finish the piece of artwork and then get it ready to send out via the mail. Sometimes though a client might just ask for an electronic copy and in that circumstance I usually lower my prices considerably as I get to keep the original artwork.

Above is another example of how I work and here you can really see where the shadows will fall. Which I find is extremely important when you’re doing a piece of artwork that you want to get a very strong reaction from by people that may purchase your artwork.

Here’s the finished version. As you can see I did something a little bit different at the end of working on the artwork. I used some greys to try and give the artwork a bit more depth and make the foreground leap out more at you.

In this piece you can see a lot of the detail that goes into one of my drawings. Sometimes though it can be a real pain when you put this much detail continually on each piece of artwork.
Above, the finished version. Sometimes I look at it and can’t believe I put that much work into a piece of artwork. The best part was that it really didn’t take me that long to do it.

This is the last drawing I’ll be showing. It’s actually a commission of Freddy Krueger from Nightmare On Elm Street. I always hated drawing Freddy so, when I was asked to do this piece of artwork, I groaned, albeit internally. I would never complain to a client about a commission or their choice of what they wanted done.

And here’s the finished version below.

What a relief it was afterwards when I was finished. It was a major accomplishment for me. The challenge also was to have the image look like a typical shot of Freddy but at the same time make it fresh and different.

For anyone out there that asks why I use so much black in my work? Well to be honest when I was growing up we had only a black and white TV and I never even watched a color TV until I was in my late teens.

Sometimes when I’m getting ready to work on a page that’s giving me a hard time, I relax and then go watch TV and while I’m watching TV I take the color of the TV and watch it for a few minutes more. My brain then gets saturated by the black and white images and then I go to work.

Hope this helps anyone out there looking for the proper tools and maybe an idea or two about how to go about getting their work done.

In the latest offering from our company, Optimum Wound Volume 1, I have about 60 pages of artwork and story inside. Check on this site for ways to purchase said book if you like my work and the work of our collaborators. Here’s what the cover looks like.

Have a great week.

Richard Serrao
co-owner of Optimum Wound Comics
www.myspace.com/richardserrao
www.facebook.com/richardserrao
www.twitter.com/richardserrao

23 Ways for a Comic Artist to Survive and Thrive in any Economy

By Jason Thibault

This was originally a to do list that I wrote for myself. I was trying to think of as many things that I could do as an artist to expand my reach and get the word out there. Some were stupid so I immediately omitted them and tried to chisel this list down to only the good stuff.

This isn’t meant to distract you from your goal of becoming an uber successful comic book artist. I understand that you need to dedicate the bulk of your time to your craft and comic pages take long enough to finish as it is. Believe me, I sometimes wish there were 100 hours to a day.

But sometimes you’ll hit roadblocks. Other times you’ll hit seemingly endless plateaus where progress seems to elude you for months. This list is meant to shake things up and get you to exercise the rest of your creative muscles.
I’ve personally already followed some of these suggestions. Others I’ve just begun to take steps on and then there’s the rest which I’m eagerly trying to clear up the time to get to.

Somewhere down the line I’ll expand some of these suggestions into full blown articles of their own. Please feel free to add more of your own ideas in the comments section. We’re all here to help each other. When you step outside of comics what creative endeavours do you get up to?

A few things to note:

1. Drawing styles are all over the map. Some draw in a simple and loose cartoony fashion while others tend to render highly realistic illustrations. Not every suggestion below will apply to every creator but there’s still a lot of room for artistic freedom.

2. In order to be successful in any field you’re going to have to hustle. Opportunities don’t often fall into your lap so you’re going to have to get out there and make things happen. You don’t need to be pushy but you’ll have to be very outgoing.

3. This is all a lot of work. There’s no easy solutions. To become a master of anthing you need to put in your ten thousand hours.

23 ways for a comic artist to hustle, survive and thrive in any economy

1. Draw big – I mean really big like 24″x24″ or 36″x36″. Try painting onto a board or canvas with acrylics. Maybe even take a painting class at a local college or art studio. Congrats, now you’re on your way to becoming a pop artist and your little comic drawing is now potentially a much more valuable piece of art. Now go improve on that and make 20 more.

If you really take to painting or creating larger works then you may be able to get in on a group show and eventually your own show. Head out once in a while to a gallery show in your town and talk to the artists and the gallery owners. There’s a lot of coffee shops, bars and restaurants that want art on their walls. Some give you the lion’s share of the commission as you’re decorating their place for free. You get extra points for making your work topical and perhaps even ironic.

Artist Glenn Barr illustrated the astounding Brooklyn Dreams for DC Comics’ Pirannah Press. Glenn later found huge success as a painter in the “low brow” art movement made popular by Juxtapoz magazine.

Artist Kent Williams came from a fine art and illustration background. He illustrated the Wolverine / Havok miniseries with John J. Muth for Marvel Comics. More recently we worked on Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain graphic novel for DC / Vertigo. His large oil paintings command tall dollars.

2. In all seriousness there’s a lot of examples of comic artists who went from comics into successful painting careers. And some who still continue to do both. Artists don’t necessarily like to be confined to a box (or panel as it were) and wnat to stretch their legs and work on bigger canvases. So join a night-time painting class or go for drop-in sessions at local studios and get some life drawing sessions in. Studios will often charge a day fee so that the cost of the model’s time and space is covered. You should be able to create in any medium once you show up. If you want to master pen and ink, go to the studio and draw directly in pen and ink.

These experiences will add new depth to your drawing style.

3. Test out some t-shirt designs - print 50. It’ll cost you a few hundred and at worst you’ll have 50 people running around town with your artwork on their chest. The image doesn’t have to be from your comic book either. It could simply be a fantastic design. Now you’re accessible to the other 99.5% of the population that doesn’t read comics.

Some artists have found great success in merchandising. Webcomic creators make a good portion of their income from t-shirts and there’s no reason why you couldn’t make some extra cake this way either.

4. Make screen prints of your best artwork. Not the cheaper 500-1000 offset poster runs. I’m talking about the quality hand-pulled silk-screen prints that you’d sell in limited quantities. Out of the potentially dozens of screenprint shops in your area there should be a few willing to print on larger surfaces. 18″ x 24″ is a standard size for a print but I have a collection that runs the gamut from huge to long and thin. If you provide your own paper stock to the printer you can get quite creative with ink color choices and even paper colors. You’ll need some knowledge about color seperations to do more elaborate prints or you’ll have to enlist the aid of the shop itself for an hourly fee. Be careful about those hourly fees.

You can also just have one-color black on white prints done on nice quality paper and then hand-color them with inks, watercolors or acrylic paints. That would make a series of highly unique prints. Go to GigPosters.com to see the best of the best show off their prints and posters.

And while you’re at it, run off some of those aforementioned cheaper offset posters to give away at conventions. People may even ask you to sign them. You might be able to get away with selling them for a few bucks. Especially if you tell people it’s to raise funds to print a book.

Watch Wes Winship of Burlesque design rock a ridiculously intricate Aaron Horkey screenprint.

5. Learn some software already. It’s almost 2010. Get a member ship at Lynda.com. 25 bucks a month. Can’t afford it? You can’t afford 5 latte’s a month? You’ll be able to get on top of Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator. Web design as well. If you’ve already figured out anatomy, perspective, backgrounds learning software is a snap in comparison. You’ve spent 20 years drawing. Adobe Creative Suite will only take you a couple more to master.

6. Get your own website and stop relying on MySpace and Facebook so much. What’s going to happen when all of the kids leave for the next coolest thing? You’ll still have your website, that’s what. If you think Facebook and Twitter will still be a major play in 3 years you’ll be in for a rude awakening. To save money in the beginning you can used shared hosting at a company like DreamHost or AN Hosting. I’ve used both and canrecommend them.  Others’ opinions may differ.

You can get one up and running pretty quickly by using  Wordpress. If you find the learning curve too steep you can hire someone to build it or have one of your more tech-savvy friends take a shot at it.

7. Get traffic to come to your website. Just having a website is not enough anymore. You need people to find it and then your fan base will need a reason to keep returning. Here’s a good resource page by Jack Humphrey for getting traffic to your site.

8. Social Networks part 1. On the other hand if you’ve still resisted joining these social networks GET ON IT!!! 200 million people are on Facebook, half as many are left on MySpace and millions join Twitter each month. It’s where all of your fans are. Don’t be dropping that, “I don’t have time” crap on me either. You don’t have time NOT TO. Join some Facebook groups in your niche, follow some peers on twitter, post some videos on YouTube or Vimeo. Wade in slowly and get a feel for it.

9. Social Networks part 2. And contribute to these networks. Don’t get on there and be all me me me. Yes you can promote but don’t be proposing marriage on the first date. Be helpful. Be useful. Read the Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media as a primer on this.

10. Is your comic online? No? Well then stop reading this right now and go get it online. There’s individual webcomics online that have the same visibility (alexa ranking) and traffic as the entire Dark Horse Comics website. The really successful ones tend to update everyday and it’s not just gag comics about videogames anymore. Any subject that you can think of has a webcomic to accompany it. And yes, it’s an amazing amount of work to keep these running like a well-oiled machine. But it can pay off big time.

You can either post your webcomic on a network like Webcomics Nation or Zuda or you can learn how to host your own webcomic.

11. Make some custom skateboard paintings. You know ink sticks to wood right? What’s a blank skateboard run, 20-30 bucks? Coat that sucker in white and then drop on some artwork. Acrylic paint works just fine. Kudos to you, you’re now the coolest artist on the block and your customized skate deck looks pretty darn sexy hanging up on a wall. Now go make 12 more.

Adam Turman is a very skilled artist who first caught my eye with his killer ink work. This is a custom skatedeck that he painted. Here’s an online store filled with decks featuring his graphics.

12. Music / art plan part 1. You’re an artist so you probably listen to a lot of music. And there’s probably some local bands in town that play on a regular basis. You might even like some of them. They need posters and flyers to advertise their shows. If you manage to drag yourself away from your studio and drawing table, truck on down to those shows and approach them in person. Give ‘em some photocopies of your recent work. Tell them you’d like to help out. Yes for free.

Artist Derek Hess used to book shows for the Euclid Tavern in Cleveland,  Ohio back in the early 1990’s. In order to pull in more people to the shows he turned to his own artistic skills and drew flyers. Within a few years he was creating and designing posters and prints for international acts along with magazine covers, album jackets and t-shirts. Axel Alonso at Marvel Comics eventually engaged him to draw the three covers for the Captain America: Dead Man Running mini-series knowing that Hess was a huge fan of Cap.

13. Music / art plan part 2. Most bands use a local poster distributor (a dude who pastes up flyers on phone poles and walls in various neighborhoods). Excellent, now your work will be seen all over town. Those posters will be gone within a week or two, so keep making new ones for promoters and bands every month. Oh yeah, keep all of the originals and a few copies of each of the flyers. When you’re famous those will make a nice collection for an artbook ten years down the road.

Comic artists as diverse as Daniel Clowes and Todd McFarlane have been hired to create CD covers and album jackets for bands of varying levels of success. The connection between the music and comic scenes has been an ongoing relationship since the 1960’s.

14. Music / art plan part 3. Keep this up and eventually you’ll be a local underground celebrity artist. Eventually people will contact you for paying work on CD covers (those still exist?) and t-shirts. And a lot of bands are starting to sell silk-screened prints at their merch tables now. I’ve picked up half a dozen prints over the past few years at shows. This harkens back to the 1960’s and the Summer of Love.

15. Music / art plan part 4. If you have mad design skills make posters in Illustrator or InDesign for bands to distribute on the interwebs.

16. Make minicomics. Do you have 12-16 pages of your comic ready to go? Good, now get them scanned in and format a minicomic booklet in Adobe Acrobat or lay it out by hand. An 8.5″ x 11″ page folded in half will do but if you want to go super small, you can do 4.25″ x 5.5″. Make 1-200 of those at Kinkos or any local copy shop. Ask to borrow their heavy duty stapler. Don’t wait until you get home, get folding and stapling right at the shop. Good, now you have a couple of hundred comics to distribute. The mini-mini-comics (4.25×5.5ers) are the coolest business cards in the world. You engage the person you’ve handed it to in an interactive reading experience. Make sure your website address is listed on the back. Some comic shops might even sell them on consignment although the financial rewards will be limited.

The Comics Reporter has a good primer on putting together a minicomic. And so does Caption.Org.

Check out this video on making a minicomic that stands out. And here’s the blog that details that process.

17. Submit your comics to the smaller publishers. Bummed that Marvel, Dark Horse and DC don’t agree that you’re the next hottest thing yet? There’s over 5 dozen other publishers that will still look at your samples and as luck would have it, I have a complete list of those comic and manga submission guidelines for you.

18. Try out  print-on-demand (POD) sites like Lulu and Ka-Blam who will print up low runs of your comic for a fraction of the cost of what a traditional printer would run you. And the quality of their books are getting better each year. This accomplishes a few things for you. You get a complete package to present to an audience without fronting thousands of dollars. And you get to see your work in printed form which will enable you to make improvements immediately based on things you’re not happy with.

19. Join some comic forums. Remember those old message boards and forums that were supposedly dead? Well they aren’t and thousands of people still post on them every day. There are still a lot of worthy communities out there to engage in conversations with. Comic writers like Warren Ellis and Brian Michael Bendis have their own forums. Message boards get a bad rap and some of the more fanatical ones deserve it but there’s a lot of great conversations to be had on Digital Webbing, CBR, Whitechapel and ConceptArt.

20. Be original. I know it’s a cliche but if you’re an artist you probably have something unique to express. I mean nobody really wants to see your take on Spiderman or Batman. We’ve been reading re-hashed storylines for the past 30 years. Odds are yours won’t be any better. Give us something new. We’re thirsting for it. Comic store owners and the comic industry are very resistant to change. But when you’re starting out, you don’t need them. Start a comic online. Blow our minds on a regular basis and we’ll keep coming back for more. We’ll subscribe to your RSS feed and we’ll tell our friends. And post it on blogs, tweet it, talk about it on forums, bookmark it. If enough of us dig it (or digg it) then you’ll print it (or a publisher will) and we’ll head to the shops and buy it or order it from Amazon.

21. Draw by hand on paper. Are you using Manga Studio, Adobe Illustrator or a wacom tablet to draw all of your comics? Maybe you should consider doing some of that art with pen, ink, pencil, paint, whatever. You’ve read my post on reasons to draw with pen and ink haven’t you? People love original art. You can sell it and possibly give some away at contests.

22. Hold Contests. Speaking of which you should hold contests on your webpage. We’ve had really positive results from running contests in the past. You can do it in a blog post, tweet it, run it in your newsletter or throw it up on Facebook. If you want to appeal solely to your fans you can have them do something in return to promote you in order for them to be eligible to win the prize. Skies the limit on this one.

23. Hit up conventions. You could experiment with smaller local ones at first. Unless local for you means San Diego, Toronto, Chicago or New York. Reserve a table at artist alley. Then you’re at ground zero. If you don’t feel comfortable renting a table just yet at least get out to a con and observe other artist’s tables and booths. Take note of which displays and companies impressed you as an attendant. Or just take pictures.

Brad Guigar, creator of Evil Inc. and Editor-In-Chief of webcomics.com was kind enough to permit me to post this pic of his table from the Wizard World Philadelphia convention. I think it’s a great example of what can be done to dress up a plain looking table into something pretty spectacular. Tables can often be had for 20% of the cost of a booth but that’s no excuse not to put some effort into your presentation.

If you do rent a table, EXCELLENT. Make sure to read 7 Tips for a Winning Tradeshow Booth. Engage in conversations with comic and art fans. Don’t be too much of a salesman. Find out what they’re into. Conventions, especially larger ones give you a feel for the health and pulse of the industry. We’ll be attending FanExpo 2009 in Toronto on August 28-30.

This is by no means a definitive list but it’s a start and I’m sure I’ll post a part 2 in the near future. We didn’t discuss doing illustrations for local papers and magazines. And we didn’t discuss Flickr or Deviantart. Let’s do that soon.

Five Reasons to Draw with Pen and Ink on Paper (and sometimes big)

by Jason Thibault

Now that computers and the internet have overtaken the world I sometimes fear that a lot of the traditional things that we take for granted will slowly begin to disappear. It may be an irrational fear as the internet has also brought to light amazing factions of creators in different pockets of the globe.

I’ve been noticing new practices taking hold in the comics, manga and illustration professions. Digital inking, Wacom tablets (yes they are cool) replacing pens, vectors overtaking hand-drawn artwork and a strong reliance on Illustrator and Photoshop. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a knock against utilizing those techniques. I have seen some amazing art created on Macs and PCs. I just don’t want it to get too carried away. I have never personally experimented with digital drawing suites like Manga Studio and I will one day when I get the time. For now I continue to love getting my hands dirty with ink and owning a growing collection of original pages and illustrations.

The main reasons to draw by hand

1. Permanence. If you create your pages with a half-decent ink on acid-free paper your artwork will survive for decades and perhaps centuries. Paper is still the most portable storage format. Digital works are stored on your hard drive, CDRom, DVD or back-up tape. But digital file types and storage mediums change each decade. We backed up files on tape in the 1980’s and part of the 90’s. Then we used zip cartridges. Then DVDRoms and portable hard drives. Meanwhile paper is still paper. My stack of originals is nicely filed away in a flat drawer. I still like to keep photocopies and high resolution digital backups though just in case.

2. Mastering techniques. I realize it takes years and a lot of artistic skill to render quality digital paintings and drawings but there’s just something more immediate about pen on paper or brush on canvas. Whether it’s spending years figuring out how to perfectly sharpen your pencil or the exact pressure needed when drawing lines with a dipping nib or technical pen. It could involve changing up your ink brand, paper type and size or finally investing in some high quality Windsor & Newton watercolor brushes. I’m sure we’ll arrive at a day where students will sit around a live model and sketch them with their wacoms into a laptop. I just hope that day doesn’t arrive too soon.

3. The monetary value of having an original. I realize most art out there isn’t worth much more than the paper or canvas that it was created on and that’s often not the point when creating it. But what about down the line? What if the creator strikes it big? Having a back catalog of originals could become quite lucrative in that case. The idea of parting with my originals pains me but my grandkids might not have the same issues. And although I know it’s happened, it’s not often that we visit a gallery to view a showing of digital print-outs.

4. Drawing Big. Once again I realize a computer screen can become an infinite canvas if you zoom in and out far enough. But the sheer power of wild brush strokes on a larger sheet of paper still captivates me. I was so used to crafting comic pages on 11″ x 17″ sheets that I thought I may be confined to those dimensions forever. Then I went to a few comic art exhibits. I saw original pages by Dan Clowes and Chris Ware which were much larger. It completely changed my mindset. And seeing that Paul Pope creates comics on pages as large as 19″ x 24″ was a revelation. And in the art world larger sized works often do command higher prices.

5. Having a completely portable skill set. If you can draw you can draw anywhere. If you’re well practiced with pen or pencil you can draw in your studio, at a cafe, park, bus station, prison etc… No need to boot up software or rely on electricity. Back in the 1990’s R. Crumb traded in a box of sketchbooks for a villa in France. You probably won’t be able to trade in your old laptops and digital printouts and get the same deal.

A Pen and Ink Love In
I wanted this particular blog post to be more of a celebration of the amazing array of hand-created artwork that’s out there and specifically works that are rendered in pencil, pen and ink. I’m hoping the next generation of art students and bedroom illustrators embrace the techniques of the past as they forge on ahead crafting new styles and merging the practical with the digital.

In this next part I’m going to focus on comic artists but I’ve mixed in a couple of poster artists and illustrators as well. I’ve kept the number down to around a dozen artists but I could have easily put 50 or 60 (or 500 or 600) more up here. Every artist listed below is one that I hold in high regard. Some have influenced me while others I simply stand in awe of to both their talent and dedication to their craft.

Florian Bertmer
Florian Bertmer is an incredible draftsman who’s taken influences such as Pushead but run with it into a darker direction. He’s a German artist who creates art for posters, t-shirts and album covers.

Paul Pope
Paul Pope is the perfect melding of European, Japanese and old-school American cartoonists. And he draws big. On his large-sized boards he deftly creates his comic book masterpieces. He’s one of the aforementioned artists that I simply stand in awe of. The good people at First Second books will be releasing his out of print series THB this fall. The Beguiling comic shop in Toronto has a lot of his art for sale.

Aaron Horkey
There’s no point in trying to ever draw more detailed than Aaron Horkey. His unique artwork adorns record covers, t-shirts and fast to sell-out prints. There’s nobody out there quite like him. His hand-lettering is elegant enough to make dozens of artists want to quit and change professions. His ink illustrations are so intricate that they actually blow the art up in size (rather than the standard procedure of reducing) before printing it. I’m the proud owner of several of his silk-screened prints which is the only affordable way to obtain his art. His originals fetch thousands of dollars when you can manage to find one for sale.

Jae Lee
I’ve been in love with the art of Jae Lee ever since first buying up all of the issues of Namor that he worked on in the early 90’s. Despite the murky coloring and poor-quality newsprint that Namor was printed on his edgey style cut through. He became a fan favourite while he was very young. He continually refined his style by at first taking a looser approach following after Bill Sienkiewicz, Barron Storrey and Kent Williams. After a hiatus he came back in the early 2000’s sporting a more realistic approach yet still with the jagged edges and razor thin lines that he was always known for. He must have gone through an oil tanker worth of black India ink throughout his career.
In 2006 it was announced that he would be providing art for the Marvel adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. He worked strictly in pencils for this project and colorist Richard Isanove darkened his grey tones to black in Photoshop and went to town with them. Check out his originals at the Albert Moy Gallery.

Lee Bermejo has risen to the cream of the crop of the comix industry. He came out of the gate around 10 years ago working for Wildstorm where his work looked like it had been created by a seasoned pro despite his young age. You don’t hear much from him on the interwebs. We snagged an interview with him recently but he has no website or much of a presence online. You can however find his gallery over at Splash Page Art. I’m guessing he’s too busy busting out insane amounts of detail on his artwork to bother much with the internet. His graphic novel Joker (written by Brian Azzarello) was and is a bestseller. It hit stores shortly after The Dark Knight was in theatres.
As amazing as he is with pen and ink it’s his recent style that he’s been developing over the last few years that has found him new fans. He creates textures and layers with pencil and then highlights and outlines the shapes with ink.

Brian Hitch made everyone in comics take notice of him and his art when he joined Warren Ellis for the first 12 issues of The Authority. The two of them helped to make famous the more cinematic “widescreen” approach of comics in the late 1990’s. But it was his five-year run with Mark Millar on Marvel’s Ultimates that sent his name soaring into the stratosphere. His masterful combination of exaggerated super-heroic realism pushed front and centre over painstakingly rendered backgrounds has won him hundreds of thousands of admirers. And artist Paul Neary must have the patience of a Buddhist monk to have inked a lot of those pages.
You can find a lot of Hitch and Neary original art over at The Art of Comics. And if you have a spare two or three grand sitting around you could commission an original.

Tim Bradstreet
It’s no secret to anyone who’s followed Optimum Wound for a while that we’re big fans of Tim Bradstreet’s artwork. When I happened upon his book Maximum Black I was immediately inspired to start experimenting with realism and photorealism and I haven’t looked back since. Tim’s style has also evolved over the years and his graphic design skills are razor sharp. He’s brought a movie poster and book jacket sensibility to comic covers and won himself a legion of fans in the process.
Tim Bradstreet’s art is always a source of inspiration around these parts.

Geoff Darrow
I was blown away by the art of Geoff Darrow from the first moment a friend showed me a copy Hard Boiled. I needed to see more. Unfortunately Geoff takes a long time to create his painstakingly detailed artwork. The originals (that I’ve seen listed on eBay) are massive in size. I believe the pencils are done on illustration paper and then the inks are drawn on a vellum overlay. He could have rested on his laurels after working on the production designs for the Matrix trilogy but he cut no corners when working on his most recent series, Shaolin Cowboy.

Sean Phillips
Sean Phillips is one of the most reliable artists current working in comics. Whether he was working on one of my favourite series of the past decade, Sleeper or earning a bigger paycheque on Marvel Zombies I am always inspired by the results. He described the look of his style on Criminal as Kent Williams inking Mike Mignola. He has a nice chunky realistic style and extremely intuitive design skills when it comes to laying out panels on a page. He’s also quite an accomplished painter. You can go to Splash Page Art to see Sean Phillip’s gallery of originals for sale.

Bill Sienkiewicz has always been one of my absolute favourite artists. I treasure my copies of Elektra Assassin. I feel he’s the artist mainly responsible for bringing the look of organized chaos to mainstream comics. Melding the bold illustration styles of the 1980’s with Neal Adams, Ralph Steadman and probably a million other influences Bill knocked us on our asses with his wild drawings and layouts. From his more realistic subject portrayals in his commercial art projects to his “far-out” experiments in series like Stray Toasters he has never let us become bored with him.
It’s his collaborations with Alan Moore on Big Numbers and Brought to Light that really did it for me and showed what could done with the comics medium.

And finally I’ll leave you with a piece called Lafourcade II by an art collective known as Anville. This is a 16″ x 40″ ink on bristol drawing. The detail is staggering on it.

And of course need we mention…
Jason Shawn Alexander

and Danijel Zezelj

So what compels you to keep drawing?

Photography Credits:

Both photos at the top were used under a Creative Commons License.
The History of Tape Storage, photo by Pargon
Photo of man sketching by sashafatcat

The Submission Guidelines for every Comic and Manga Publisher in the Universe

By Jason Thibault

LAST UPDATED: FEBRUARY 23, 2010

Late in 2008 I was curious about which comic companies were still accepting submissions. In an act of pure masochism your friends at Optimum Wound visited the websites of every known comics publisher over the past two months. Back in 2004 Tom Spurgeon over at The Comics Reporter had posted an insanely useful resource page on getting published in comics. It’s still highly recommended reading. It’s been over four years and we wanted to see what had changed. To our surprise we found over 50 places that you could still send your writing and art samples.
We compiled this list from several issues of Diamond Previews and a couple of publisher directories.

A few points of order:
1. Be sure to click through the links and review each set of guidelines thoroughly to see if you should be sending samples there and if you’ve put your package together correctly. Some places accept emailed submissions while others are strictly by mail. I’ve attempted to provide a brief description for each company.

2. Due to the economic downturn some of the publishers below may stop accepting submissions and worse, close their doors for good. We’ll try to stay on top of it. ***Note: Marvel and several others have already stopped accepting open submissions.

3. I probably missed a number of publishers and will be happy to add them to the list if contacted.

4. Although a lot of major book publishers have thrown their hat into the graphic novel publishing game you would require an agent to even get reviewed. And here is an amazing list of Literary Agents Who Represent Graphic Novels.

5. Writers are going to have a tougher go of it as usual. The majority of companies out there are looking for artists but there are still a significant amount of them that will accept writing proposals.

6. I decided to break this down into several categories. The BIG 4 comic publishers, the independents (further broken down into 3 categories: arthouse, genre and misc.), manga publishers, book companies, adult category and finally magazines.

7. DO YOUR RESEARCH before deciding to submit to a publisher. Seek them out in Google, check out comic forums. Are they a reputable publishing house? Would your book or style fit in with their’s.

THE BIG 4 COMIC PUBLISHERS

DARK HORSE still welcomes your submissions, and all submissions will still be reviewed. Dark Horse has one of the most detailed and elaborate submission processes out there. They mean business. You’ll need to download the Submission Agreement and make sure you send in a signed copy along with your other materials. Be sure to read through all of their submission pages as there’s an amazing amount of useful info on there.
Writers will need to send in a synopsis as well as the full script for a short story or the first 8 pages of a full-length series. Artists should send in 5-6 consecutive story pages. Same goes for inkers. Dark Horse will provide sample pages to ink if you send in a large 11″x17″ self-addressed stamped envelope.
Colorists need to send in 5 pages of sequential art. They want to see how you handle different types of storytelling. Letterers can submit at least 5 pages of story to show diversity of balloons and sound effects, as well as font choice. In addition, please show examples of italicized and bold text.

DC COMICS has an annual TALENT SEARCH? They only look at artists and you need to hit up either the New York Comicon or the San Diego Comicon. The DC TALENT SEARCH program is designed to offer aspiring artists the chance to present artwork samples directly to the DC Editors and Art Directors. The process is simple: during your convention visit, drop off photocopied samples of your work. If DC like what they see, a time is scheduled for you the following day to meet a DC editor personally to discuss your portfolio.

Sorry writers – no dice. At this time, DC Comics does not accept unsolicited writing submissions.

ZUDA COMICS – Zuda is DC Comic’s genre webcomics portal. Zuda holds a competition once a month. Each month there will be ten new comics available for readers to evaluate, discuss and vote upon. In addition, the winning comic from each month goes on to become a new, ongoing series. Comics are strictly presented in a 4:3 ratio (or screen that is 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall. In order to enter creators must read and sccept the submissions agreement.

IMAGE COMICS only publishes creator-owned material! Only submit original material, not something utilizing existing Image characters. Image Comics accepts only PROPOSALS for new comic series or graphic novels, etc. For writers DO NOT SEND your script or your plot unaccompanied by art — it will be discarded, unread.
They DO ACCEPT inking, pencilling, lettering, or coloring samples. They’ll keep them on file if they’re interested for future consideration and may hook you up with other creators if and when the occasion presents itself. The books Image publishes are creator owned/creator generated properties and they DON’T PAY PAGE RATES. It will be up to you to strike a deal with whomever you end up working with. Image takes a small, flat fee off the books they publish and the rest goes to that comic book’s creative team. How that profit is split up is entirely up to the creators involved.
A PROPOSAL should contain A typed, ONE PAGE, synopsis of the ENTIRE series or story arc. Send photocopies of fully INKED and LETTERED pages (any size). AT LEAST five pages that are fully inked and lettered. Color is OPTIONAL. Include a cover mock-up.

MARVEL COMICS is still no longer looking at submissions.

Their original guidelines paraphrased as they were listed in early 2009 : Writers send an inquiry letter, detailing your writing experience and why you would like to write for Marvel. Based on your inquiry, they may ask you to submit a sample of your work.

Artists – If you have a website with your work on display, please send us a link to your website using the Marvel Art Submissions email address. Submit no more than 5 pages of sample artwork. If you submit by mail, send clean 8 1/2″x11″ photocopies of your sample pages.
3 or 4 pages of sequential action, 2 or 3 pages of character-driven storytelling and 1 page of cover art or iconic character poses.

For Inkers: Don’t send samples inked over your own pencils. Send copies of the original pencils along with your inks so they can see what you started with. Use samples done over several different pencilers. For Colorists: Don’t send samples colored over your own line art.

**UPDATE - Marvel has now posted the following on their submissions page:
Due to an unprecedented number of unsolicited art and writing submissions, Marvel has altered its open submissions policy effective immediately. Marvel has remained the only major publisher to continue accepting open submissions, however that practice has been halted as we review our strategies for accepting future submissions.

Independents Part 1.) Arthouse & Literary Comic Publishers

ADHOUSE BOOKS is a small press outfit and are pretty selective in what they choose to publish. Your work would have to “feel” like an AdHouse book. Only submit finished or near (75%) complete work.

Blank Slate Books (WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS, SPARKY O’HARE) are always looking for new comics material. They’ll accept submissions by email or standard mail.

BLURRED BOOKS is seeking experimental, alternative and/or underground work by both emerging and established artists operating at the intersection of art and comics for the “online comics” area of its website, for its Blurred Vision series of printed anthologies, and for its annual Blurred Vision group show at the ArtLexis gallery in New York City. Submissions may be anywhere from one page to twenty-eight pages in length, and should not have been previously published (with the exception of self-publishing, which is fine). Submissions may be made via email, via an emailed link to an existing website where the work is displayed, or via photocopied submissions.

DRAWN & QUARTERLY (LOUIS RIEL A COMIC STRIP BIOGRAPHY, OPTIC NERVE), welcomes submissions for various publishing venues. The new talent forum (Drawn & Quarterly Showcase), the regular anthology (Drawn & Quarterly), and a seasonal selection of general graphic novels, comic books, and comic book series. They do not review scripts. They accept email samples and mail in submissions.

Fantagraphics Books (LUBA, LOVE AND ROCKETS, EIGHT BALL, BLACK HOLE, USAGI YOJIMBO) want to see an idea that is fully fleshed-out in your mind, at least, if not on paper. Please submit a minimum of five pages of completed art (high-quality reproductions only, please — no original art!) so that they can get an idea of what you deem a finished. Also include a synopsis of your storyline and, if a serial, a brief note stating approximately how many issues you have in mind.

Gestalt Publishing (#UPDATE: Gesalt is not actively seeking submissions at this time) is an independent publishing house in Australia with an eye for quality in content and production. They are are not actively seeking submissions at this time. HOWEVER if you would still like to send an unsolicited submission for their consideration, be sure to check out the books they’re publishing. If you honestly feel your work is of the same (or better) standard then feel free to submit.

INSOMNIA PRESS (BURKE AND HARE, CANCERTOWN) is a young UK indy publisher and we are currently accepting submissions from writers and artists – independently or as teams. They publish complete graphic novels and art portfolio books and all of their books are creator owned. For most of their books they put creative teams together. Their books are aimed at teen/mature readers and most have an 18+ age rating. With each book they look to publish something which is unusual, literate, challenging and thought provoking.

NBM (LITTLE NOTHINGS, NO PASARAN) is recognized as one the highest quality graphic novel publishing houses in America. We launch 1 to 2 new artists a year. They are interested in most everything from fantasy to humor, including erotica, mystery, general fiction. NO superheroes.
They like complete packages and do not match writers with artists. They have no need for illustrations alone including covers. They do need translators from French, Spanish and occasionally Italian and computer letterers
Send a one-page synopsis of your story. For the art, send copies of a few finished pages or pencils for the project or at least of previous work in the same style you plan on using. Don’t send a complete finished .

NEW RELIABLE PRESS is a small press publisher based out of Vancouver, Canada. Submissions can be mailed in and they will look at works in progress as long as you send in a minimum of 10 completed pages.

SECRET ACRES is a cool little site that takes submissions and also distributes mini-comics.

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS takes on complete projects. Just send them a xerox copy of what you’d like them to look at. Don’t send image files to their email addresses. Also don’t they cannot accept scripts or plot synopses, unless they are accompanied by a minimum of 10-20 completed pages (i.e., fully inked and lettered comic book pages).

Independents Part 2.) Genre and Pop Comic Publishers

Unfortunately, AAM MARKOSIA (RITUAL, STARSHIP TROOPERS), is no longer accepting submissions without an invitation. However…if you are a colorist, letterer, penciler or inker…they have a number of talented creator-owner/writers who are always looking for a artist team to work with. If you don’t mind back end deals, try contacting one of the writers through their forums and maybe you can get together on something that way, which is one of the best ways to get published anyway.

ALTERNA COMICS INC. (#UPDATE: Alterna Comics is NOT actively seeking submissions at this time) (JESUS HATES ZOMBIES) would like you to send 5 or more sequentially completed pages as well as a series/issue summary to Peter Simeti, Publisher. You retain 100% of your creative rights. They only acquire publishing rights in order to get your book out there. Creators receive back-end royalty pay for their works (no page rates) and the profit split is 60/40 with 60% going to the creative team.
Alterna Comics publishes black and white books with color covers. Alterna Comics carries all kinds of books and is welcome to every genre; big and small. They promote aggressively online and each creator promotes locally through signings, shows, and conventions. They’re looking for books that are original in story and art.

AMAZE INK/SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS (JOHNNY THE HOMICIDAL MANIAC, GLOOMCOOKIE) accepts unsolicited submissions by mail and email. They only review projects. They do not accept scripts without artwork, or art samples without a story. If you are only a writer or only an artist, you need to find someone to work with BEFORE submitting your project.

A.N.A. COMICS is continually seeking new talent and projects for their print and online endeavors. They’re always on the lookout for pencilers for their in-house comic book projects. And although we don’t hire as many inkers, colorists, or letterers as they do pencilers, they occasionally hire for those positions. All artistic styles are welcome. A.N.A. Comics books are a varied lot, so they’re not hooked on one style of art. For Pencils and inks you should send in at least 4 pages of sequential art;
AND THE WRITERS? Currently A.N.A. Comics is looking for creators that have Web-comics, or creator owned projects they would like to have help developing and put out under a united banner. That being said, we are not hiring writers who are not already attached to a creative team.

APE ENTERTAINMENT (SCARLET VERONICA. SISTA SAMURAI, WIND RAIDER) is constantly on the lookout for fresh new talents and projects. Ape Entertainment employs freelance talent from all over the world. They are always on the lookout for pencilers for their in-house comic book projects. They occasionally hire inkers and colorists. Ape’s primary interest is in creator-owned properties. We publish a number of properties that come to us from outside sources. They’re in the market for one-shot comics, mini-series, and graphic novels. All genres are considered, from “all-ages” to “mature readers” and all points in-between.
They’re NOT currently hiring writers who haven’t already assembled a creative team of their own.

APPROBATION COMICS (CHAOS CAMPUS SORORITY GIRLS VS ZOMBIES) are currently accepting submissions from talented Pencillers, Inkers, Colorists, Painters, and Letterers. Send 3 to 8 pages of sequential art. Submit samples showing your ability in one discipline only. If you’re selling yourself as a penciler don’t send inked and colored pages.

ARCANA STUDIO (GAUZE, GREATEST AMERICAN HERO) will accept FIVE-PAGE SUBMISSIONS FOR A COMICBOOK that you want to find a home for. They do not accept ‘pitches’ or scripts but only completed books that are professional looking.

Archaia Studios Press is interested in publishing creator-owned comic books in the fantasy, horror, pulp noir, and science fiction. ASP does not hire freelancers or arrange for freelance work, so submissions should only be for book and series proposals. ASP is primarily interested in full-color projects, but proposals for black & white projects will also be considered.

ASPEN MLT INC (ASPEN SHOWCASE, FATHOM, SOULFIRE) is a small company and have very few openings for artists in the course of a year, but do not be discouraged. Keep submitting. They want to see your work. Send only hard copies (photocopies/print-outs) of your work. Links to websites/virtual portfolios are acceptable as well.
PENCILERS, inkers and colorists: Submit no less than 3 pages of consecutive sequential storytelling.
WRITERS: Aspen Comics does not accept unsolicited writing submissions, synopses, or scripts. Any unsolicited writing submission sent will not be read.

ATLANTIS STUDIOS (CRYSTAL WAR, TALES OF LARA CROFT) primary business is the creation of work-for-hire science fiction, fantasy, and action-adventure sequential art for a variety of clients such as publishers, film makers, video game developers, advertising agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.

AVATAR PRESS INC (CROSSED, ANNA MERCURY, DOKTOR SLEEPLESS, NO HERO, NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD) is a leading independent company which publishes a wide variety of comic books. Avatar is always looking for talented freelance artists, and often has a range of work in a wide variety of subjects and genres available. If you have a web page or online gallery of your work available, sending Avatar Press editor-in-chief William Christensen a link to that is a good place to start.
WRITERS can send an 8-12 page story with panel to panel descriptions and in full script format. COLORISTS need to send samples of your work on a Zip disk or CD.
Avatar Press is always looking for quality creator-owned projects. Much of what they publish is creator-owned. The ideal submission will include an overview of the story, a detailed plot synopsis, sample script pages, character designs, and sample art pages (panel to panel continuity).

BloodFire Studios is taking writing and art Submissions. Inkers do not ink over your own pencils. Have someone else pencil some pages for you or buy sample pencils from your local comic shop and ink over those. Make sure you include copies of the pencils with your package. Submission can be sent via email but ONLY AS HYPERLINKS.
Writing submissions should be submitted in a script format like a play or movie (novel and short story formats are usually passed over). BloodFire Studios is looking for new colorists.

CAMPFIRE (INVISIBLE MAN, MOBY DICK) began publishing in 2008, under the Campfire imprint, with the vision of creating graphic novels of the finest quality to entertain and educate readers. Graphic novels are published under four categories; Classics, Originals, Mythology and Biography. They have two basic competitions where writers can script a page and artists can illustrate a page.

Catastrophic Comics (The Greatest American Hero) are always open to great artists, inkers and colorists.

Cellar Door Publishing specializes in the publication of high-quality illustrated literature and graphic novels. They’re looking for all genres and age groups. They encourage creators to experiment with format and content, though it is not required. They accept a limited number of submissions for books without illustrations. This is generally reserved for books that are either unique in content or controversial in nature, or literary projects that can be released in a serialized format.

They currently accept unsolicited submissions via online submission form and comic book conventions only and NOT through traditional mail.

COMMITED COMICS (JACKRABBIT, JAVA!) is an independent comic book company who accept entries from pretty much every category including writers, pencilers, inkers and digital colorists and letterers.

CREATOR’S EDGE PRESS is continually seeking new INDEPENDENT talent and projects for their print projects. They’re always on the lookout for INDEPENDENT artists for our comic book projects. All artistic styles are welcome. CEP’s primary interest is in publishing stories from pre-assembled creative teams. They are definitely in the market for one-shot comics, mini-series, graphic novels and web comics. But are not looking to publish an ongoing series at this time. BUT WHAT ABOUT WRITERS? They are not hiring writers who are not already attached to a creative team.

D. E./DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT (DEATH DEFYING DEVIL, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA CYLON WAR, BOYS, RED SONJA, HIGHLANDER, LONE RANGER)
WRITERS: send an inquiry letter, detailing your writing experience and why you would like to write for Dynamite Entertainment. ARTISTS: Please submit no more than 5 pages of sample artwork. PENCILERS: Just send pencils. Do not send inked, colored or lettered pages. COLORISTS: Don’t send samples colored over your own line art. PAINTERS: If you are submitting samples of fully-painted (traditionally or digitally painted) cover work, keep in mind that Dynamite Entertainment covers tend toward iconic shots of single characters rather than groups of characters or storytelling elements.

Dare Comics does not accept unsolicited submissions. Always send an introductory email first and we will let you know if we’re interested in seeing your work. You can contact Dare at info@darepictures.net

DARK ELF DESIGNS accepts new story submissions on a creator / contract based payment system. Sean new artist submissions via E-Mail and add a link to where they can find your artwork somewhere on the web.  Or send hard copies. Dark Elf Designs publishes ONLY creator owned properties and do not hire paid freelancers at this time. They are also willing to look at writing proposals.

Digital Webbing is a huge community of creators, fans and publishers. This is a link to their collaborations section. And here’s the help wanted section.

DMC Comics Lld has been publishing the anthology NEW GROUND on a bi-monthly basis. They take submissions from New Zealanders only.

GEMSTONE PUBLISHING’S (UNCLE SCROOGE, WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES) requirements are character-specific, so confine submissions to material relating to Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Uncle Scrooge, and their supporting casts.

Moonface Press (click “About Us”) takes artist submissions. NO PAY. Send some photocopied samples of your work to the address on the ‘Contact Us’ page, at least two pages of which should be fully-inked sequential comic art pages.

NETCOMICS (100 PERCENT PERFECT GIRL, ADVENTURES OF YOUNG DET) will take work from aspiring creators. If the editors think that your work is at least worth a try, they will publish your work on their web site as online content. If responses from users and reviewers prove to be good, they can publish your work as printed book and have it published in overseas.

Nifty Comics is taking submissions. Page rate for finished artwork is $15/page. They pay half of the total art fee once half the artwork has been turned in and the remainder upon delivery of final art. All work is work for hire. Writing proposals should be no longer than five pages. Pencilers, Inkers, Letterers, & Colorists can send photocopies of original illustrations.

Orang Utan Comics Studio is currently recruiting writers by invitation only. Orang Utan Comics is currently looking for pencillers, inkers and colourists for their various projects, and their Studio.

Papercutz is looking for artists versed in the manga style as well other comics styles good for kids! If you are ready for prime time and to become a star on one of our properties, send us a couple pages either as 72 dpi jpegs or mail hard copies. To a lesser degree they’re looking for for inkers, colorists, letterers and scriptwriters.

Penny-Farthing Press accepts writing submissions. Pencillers are to provide 3 to 5 consecutive penciled pages showing your story telling skills and versatility. Inkers can submit at least 3 to 5 samples showing interior page work and any other work that shows your ability. Include copies of the pencils with your samples.

RED HANDED STUDIOS publishes a very small number of comics. They ARE looking for talented creators who can meet deadlines and would like the chance to play their characters. THEY DO NOT ACCEPT unsolicited writing (that is plots, scripts, whatever) samples! This means if you’re a writer and you want to take a shot at writing for Red Handed Studios, you need more information. THEY DO ACCEPT inking, pencilling, lettering, or coloring samples. Send in 4-7 sequential pages to help them decide. If you’re an inker, make sure they know that and send in the pencils you inked as well.

REBELLION (2000 AD, JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE)

Writers – Send ONE short Future Shock plot outline (no more than a page), along with a full script or published story to show you understand comic book format. Do not send in proposals for new series unless you are an established professional. New writers begin by submitting Future Shocks – five-page science-fiction stories with a twist ending.

Artists – send COPIES of your work. Pencillers should submit 4-6 COMIC BOOK PAGES in order, showing the progression of a 2000 AD-style story through a series of pictures. Don’t send pinups and paintings. Inkers should submit photocopies of both your inks and the pencils you have inked, so that we can compare the two. Colourists should submit 4-6 pages of fully coloured comic-art on CD or Zip disk. All 2000 AD colouring is now done on computer using Adobe Photoshop, except for fully painted art.

RED 5 COMICS (Atomic Robo, Neozoic, Zombies of Mass Destruction) is a new publisher of both in-house and creator-owned comics. They’re looking for talented freelance pencillers, inkers, colorists and letterers. Submissions should include at least five (5) pages of your best sequential storytelling art, not just sketches or pin-ups. Initially, they want to see your work online.

ROUGH CUT COMICS go to “CONTACT”(Rose Black and Society) accepts inquiries from artists, but be warned they’ll tell you what they think.

SCAR COMICS (Madam Samurai) are working hard to bring exciting creator owned comics  and high quality publications to a readership that demands the best. They are always on the look out for original stories from talented creators, who wish to get their own book published. They pay for the printing and marketing of the book. You provide a completed graphic novel and they can help with design if this is not to your strength. Once the book is published, and the costs incurred by Scar Comics are made back through sales, they split all profits with the creator/s 50/50.

SEPTAGON STUDIOS (Scorn, Masks) are always looking for quality creator-owned projects from all genres; however, they are not interested in the classic or typical superhero genre at the moment. They strongly recommend having a creative team (writer and artist) already assembled.

SHADOWLINE COMICS is Jim Valentino’s division of Image Comics. Don’t submit projects that have already been submitted to Image Central. They prefer 3 to 4-issue mini-series. 1-Shots or OGNs will also be considered. They want books that are DIFFERENT from what they are already publishing.  Send in 5 fully completed pages, and a cover.  Include a one-paragraph synopsis of what your story is about.

STUDIO 407 is accepting submissions for original, completed comic or graphic novel projects. They are only considering completed projects. All genres are welcome except. Final artwork must be press quality and able to be printed on standard comic book size/format. You can send your book in .pdf format.

Time Bomb Comics publish a wide variety of comics from a wide variety of genres – science-fiction, thriller, mystery, romance, horror, superhero, adventure – and they want to build up a team of committed writers and artists to help achieve that. Writers send in a fully scripted 5-page story.
Artists send in 5 pages of sequential artwork.

Transfuzion Publishing publishes primarily graphic novels and anthologies. No periodical comics. For the graphic novels, they are looking for collections of previously published material or original graphic novel material. The material must be presented as “ready to print”. For the anthologies, they are seeking only completed stories. All books are owned by the creators.

TUMBLE CREEK PRESS are looking for pencillers who also ink their own work, penciller/Inker teams and inkers, letterers, and colorists. Sorry writers, no dice.

ULTIMATE COMICS GROUP accepts artist, inking, colorist and cover/pinup submissions. Five or six consecutive story pages is adequate. Colorists need only send in three.

VISIONARY COMICS is now only looking for finished books, meaning a complete stand-alone one-shot, graphic novel, or mini-series that is essentially ready for publication. Visionary still will provide editorial guidance on making changes to the book however, we want to see a team effort to get the book done before we will get involved.

WARPTON COMICS (MESSIAH, REVENANTS) has been publishing comics since 2000. They accept  proposals from writers and submissions from artists.

WILD WOLF ENTERTAINMENT (click on “Submission Guidelines”) are currently accepting submissions for all Comic Book Genres but must be over 40 pages in length. Include a Short Synosis of the overall plot , at least 5 finished pages (both Penciled & Inked ) You will retain ownership of you plot and art submissions.

ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT INC is currently accepting artwork submissions. Pencilers mail 3-10 COPIED pages of artwork (no originals). Inkers mail 3-10 inked pages (no originals) along with copies of the pencils you have chosen to ink. Colorists mail color copies (no originals) of 3-10 colored pages. These pages should not be lettered. Letterers mail copies (no originals) of 3-5 lettered pages.

Independents Part 3.) Anthologies, Studios and Related Sites
ASYLUM PRESS (scroll down on the left until reaching “SUBMISSIONS”) IS LOOKING ARTISTS for their annual horror anthology THE ASYLUM OF HORRORS. If you draw in the style of Berni Wrightson, Tim Vigil, Kyle Hotz, Kelly Jones, Mike Mignola or have a dark and moody style please send small jpg samples. See page for specifications. If you have a website of sequential art samples send them the link. Jobs are for two to ten page horror stories that must be penciled, inked and lettered (using a digital comic book font). Completed pages will need to be delivered on disc as 300 dpi PSD (Photoshop) files.

Imperium Comics are currently accepting submissions for Trailer Park Of Terror. Writers send in full scripts of 5-8 page self-contained horror stories. Pencillers, Inkers, and Colorists: submit at least 3 pages of sequential art.

KRAZYBOV COMICS is an anthology looking for completed black and white strips of any genre and any length, be it three panels or four hundred pages. The comic has a very international flavour with contributors from Europe, South America and Indonesia. Stories are welcome from every continent but must be in English. Don’t be shy, send it in. A downloadable template is available on the submissions page. Completed strips to be delivered by email. The comic is freely distributed in London with adverts to cover the printing costs. Contributors receive a copy of the book.

Ronin Studios is not a publisher but in fact a non-profit independent publishing label. Their regular titles are creator owned and operated. Please include a brief synopsis of the book and sample script, pages and concept art. They also have an anthologies section.

MANGA PUBLISHERS

ANTARCTIC PRESS (GOLD DIGGER, LAND OF OZ, NINJA HIGH SCHOOL) prefer you to be an artist versed in penciling, inking, and writing. As publishers, they prefer creators who can do it all. If you can’t ink your own work, but they like your pencils they’ll team you up with an inker but the royalty will now be spread between you and the inker. The same deal applies if you work with a writer. If you can do it all, then it’s better for you and for them.
Submit ONE COMPLETE ISSUE (22-30 pages) of rendered (penciled, inked) SEQUENTIAL art. They tend to prefer a MANGA / ANIME style but will review your work regardless.
For writers submit 1- to 4-page typed STORY SYNOPSIS and/or TREATMENTS.

DEL REY MANGA (AIR GEAR, ALIVE, FAIRY TAIL, GACHA GACHA NEXT REVOLUTION, PAPILLON, PRINCESS RESURRECTION), are always looking for new creative talent, so they accept and review unsolicited submissions from writers and artists. They will review either proposals for original, manga-style graphic novels or portfolios of artists who are proficient at drawing in the manga style.
If you’re a writer, try to attach an artist to your project. If you’re an artist, send in samples. Del Ray is looking for artists who are capable of executing a book-length, manga-style narrative. Show them some manga pages!
TRANSLATORS: All translation at Del Rey Manga is handled on a freelance, out-of-house basis; They hire both literal translators and adapters, as well as translators who are capable of adapting their own work.

GO COMI! (THREE IN LOVE, ULTIMATE VENUS) accepts resumes for freelance adaptors, translators, and layout artists interested in working on manga.

ITCH PUBLISHING is based in the UK, and is focused on the local manga scene. They’re happy to consider submissions from outside the UK though, especially if they’re good. They can’t pay you a lot of money, but they’ll can get you a great looking book.

KITTY PRESS MAKA MAKA says that people are free to send submissions at anytime. They are not actively taking submissions for inclusion in the Kitty Universe, but may in the near future. They keep all submissions on file in case they start to hire at a later date. Accepting submissions from writers, pencillers, inkers, and colorist, or combinations of these.

LIME MEDIA (HAWAII STAR MANGA PROJECT) is looking for new, original comic/manga stories for publication. They welcome all comic creators, especially Hawaii’s artists (and former Hawaii residents) to submit story proposals for consideration. They respect Creator’s rights, and use only CREATOR OWNED properties. They are currently accepting proposals for comic projects, illustrated fiction, and non fiction such as convention coverage or manga/comic/game and other product reviews.

P2 Manga LLC is a small Manga company started up in July, 2008. If your’e submitting an artist package, they are looking for 10-20 completed pages both inked and toned.

SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT LLC (#UPDATE: Alterna Comics is NOT actively seeking submissions at this time) is currently accepting sequential art related samples drawn by artists in authentic manga style. WRITERS – NO DICE – For legal reasons, Seven Seas Entertainment will not accept any unsolicited series proposals and/or manuscripts.
ARTIST/WRITER TEAMS
If you have an existing webcomic/webmanga or other sequential art samples that are currently on the web, then you may follow the guidelines outlined in the artist section above.

TOKYOPOP (*UPDATE – TOKYOPOP is NOT accepting submissions at this time.) is looking for creators who can deliver tight, punchy, well-paced Pilots that entertain and introduce a new property. A Manga Pilot may be the first chapter of a planned graphic novel, or a self-contained side introducing the property. Download the Submissions Release Agreement. All submissions should be sent via mail or courier. They have one of the most elaborate submissions policies so be sure to review all of it.
WORK-FOR-HIRE PENCILLERS, INKERS AND TONERS go HERE. And they also have a helpful page for MECHANICAL SPECIFICATIONS GUIDELINES.

VIZ Media’s Original Publishing Department welcomes professional pitches for original comics submissions. Don’t submit anything based on any of their titles. Only submit high-quality photocopies or discs with digital files Download a Submission Release and mail your work and the signed Submission Release in.

INDY DISTRIBUTORS AND MICRO PRESSES

Bodega Distribution (*UPDATE - While they get things in order, they’ve decided to take down the shop for a bit.) is a comics and minicomics distributor. It is run by Randy Chang who used to handle the mailorder for Highwater Books. When Highwater shut down at the end of 2004, Randy decided to take over the remaining stock and create his own comics distro.
Bodega Distribution will accept submissions for minicomics or books for distribution.
They also distribute to retail outlets.

MICROCOSM PUBLISHING (SNAKEPIT) is not so much a publisher but more of a micro-press distributor. Microcosm is a place that may be interested in distributing your mini-comics. But be warned they reject 90-95% of what is submitted to them.

ADULT (18 Years and up) PUBLISHERS

CLASS COMICS INC (RAPTURE) is always looking for quality creator-owned projects. Their goal is to broaden the line of Class Comics titles to include works by other creators. Your project should feature a strong Gay overtone, but does not necessarily have to be adult-rated.
COLORISTS send samples of your work via email and please make certain that the files are at least 1200 Pixels wide by 1800 pixels high at 100 dpi. ARTISTS If you have a web page or online gallery of your work available, sending a link to that is generally a good place to start.
INKERS Class Comics is currently looking for inkers with a smooth style, and with the ability to follow a penciler’s line, while being able to make technical and critical decisions.

EUROTICA/AMEROTICA (FIRST TIME, SHADOW & LIGHT, SPIDER GARDEN) has the same policies as NBM.
Eurotica is recognized as one the highest quality graphic novel publishing houses in America. They launch 1 to 2 new artists a year. They like complete packages and do not match writers with artists. They have no need for illustrations alone including covers. They do need translators from French, Spanish and occasionally Italian and computer letterers
Send a one-page synopsis of your story. For the art, send copies of a few finished pages or pencils for the project or at least of previous work in the same style you plan on using. Don’t send a complete finished .

LAST GASP (BARFOOT GEN, SWEET WISHES), specializes in unusual and extraordinary high-quality books in the fields of pop culture; pop surrealism & lowbrow art; comics & graphic novels; erotica; photography; and poetry & literary fiction.
Last Gasp does not generally accept or publish unsolicited submissions. However, if you would like to send a proposal read their guidelines. Writers send a proposal, including outline, introduction, illustrations list, sample captions, and text/sample chapters Artists send duplicates of sample illustrations or photographs.

RADIO COMIX (*UPDATE – Submission Guidelines appear temporarily taken down) (FURRLOUGH, GENUS MALE) only accepts proposals from complete creative teams. We do not assign writers to artists, or vice-versa. All stories are fully creator-owned. They don’t publish any color comics. Radio Comix publishes anthropomorphic, independent, and adults-only projects in all genres (except superheroes). They prefer creators to submit stories for our anthologies before publishing stand-alone series.

WHITE LIGHTNING PRODUCTIONS will only consider *COMPLETED* artwork for comic or webcomic publication. They do NOT accept sample pencils or uncompleted pages. Blind submissions for comic publication should have the first thirty pages completed for graphic novel publication, the first ten pages completed for webcomic publication, or the entire short story completed for anthology publication.

YAOI PRESS LLC (*UPDATE – SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSED) seeks to publish yaoi manga graphic novels and art books of the highest caliber. Yaoi Press books are printed from left to right. Most books published by Yaoi Press are designated ‘Mature Readers’ meaning they must be appropriate for readers aged 16 and older. They seek to publish more ‘Adult Only’ books in the future and are no longer seeking ‘Young Adult’ projects.
They are seeking artists for their Adults Only and Mature Readers art books. Artists – In addition to demonstrating solid manga-style sequential art skills, artists must be able to draw beautiful men.
Writers – Queries are open. Please query info(at)yaoipress.com with a short synopsis of your project before submitting a full proposal.

BOOK PUBLISHERS

Arthur A. Levine Books won’t accept unsolicited manuscripts for novels but they will look at picture books, the first two chapters of a novel and illustration samples. They look for strong writing, beautiful artwork, authentic emotion, and ideas or perspectives not seen before, and they enjoy working with debut authors and illustrators.

Sterling Publishing is a book publisher. Write a proposal explaingin your idea. Enclose an outline and a sample chapter of the proposed book along with sample illustrations where applicable. For Children’s books, please submit full manuscripts. No e-mail submissions.

TITAN PUBLISHING takes submissions under a number of different categories.
NON-FICTION ART & COMICS REFERENCE: They are looking for strong proposals for these titles, preferably creator or character-led. They prefer writers who have a proven track record in this area, and good contacts in the art & comics world. They also have a number of licensed publications already contracted.
COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS: The majority of their graphic novel titles are licensed from overseas publishers or acquired through agents but do publish a growing number of originated graphic novels. You can send initially a brief synopsis and covering letter only, not a full manuscript.

VEI Press accepts both manuscripts and art samples. If you have a manuscript and/or a set of art that you believe would fit with their portfolio, then contact them. They pledge to back to you quickly with thier decision to either pursue the project or not.

Verso is a book publisher that will look at your submissions. They’re looking for maximum 10 page proposals and not complete manuscripts.

MAGAZINES

HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE will look at artwork. The majority of their featured stories are reserved years in advance for established European artists. They are mainly looking for short stories between two to eight pages. They’ll look at any Heavy Metal-esque ideas you have, but short stories have the best chance to get in and be placed quicker.

TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING (Write Now!, Back Issue, Alter Ego, Rough Stuff & The Jack Kirby Collector) is a magazine publisher that could be a really could place for a writer with passion and knowledge of the comic industry to cut their teeth.
If you have an idea for a book you’d like TwoMorrows to consider publishing, e-mail publisher John Morrow. They request you send a 1000 word (or less) proposal, including a detailed description and highlights of the project, who you see as the main audience for it, and a breakdown of the chapters of the book.
For details on submitting art and articles for their magazines, contact each of their editors directly for the submission requirements.

COMIC AND CARTOON SYNDICATES

CREATOR’S SYNDICATE distributes a great variety of continuing features, such as comic strips and panels, columns and political cartoons, and are constantly on the lookout for quality features. If you have a cartoon or comic strip you would like them to consider, they will need to see at least four (4) weeks of samples, but not more than six (6) weeks of dailies and two Sundays. As a general rule, drawings are most easily reproduced if clearly drawn in black ink on white paper, with shading executed in ink wash or Benday® or other dot-transfer.

KING FEATURES SYNDICATE is always happy to look at new comic features for possible syndication. Send 24 black and white daily comic strips. It is not necessary to send Sunday comic strips. If they like your daily comics, they will ask to see sample Sunday pages. You should reduce your comics to fit onto standard 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheets of paper.

TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES accepts submissions for comics and editorial cartoons however, they accept extremely few and generally only from already established creators.

UNITED MEDIA are always interested in new comic ideas. They would like to see 18-24 PDF samples of your work, both black-and-white and color, so that they can judge its consistency. Six strips to a page for dailies is ideal. As a syndicated cartoonist, you’ll be expected to file electronically, so this is good practice! For all types of submissions please include a short note about yourself and your work.

UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE is always looking for great new comic strips. They prefer four to six weeks of samples of a proposed feature so that they can judge the quality and consistency of your work. As long as the material is clear and easy to read, it may be submitted in any form.

THE WASHINGTON POST WRITERS GROUP accepts comic strip / panel and editorial cartoon submissions. Send at least 24 cartoons. Use letter-sized paper for your submission.

and finally Optimum Wound does not accept submission because we’re jerks…and overworked.

Jason Thibault is the publisher of Optimum Wound Comics and wrote a survival guide for comic artists. For other useful posts on comics, art and creating you can follow him on Twitter.

ANATOMY OF A PAGE: A PROCESS BLOG FOR PAGE 22 OF BATTLES

This was an older process blog that I had done in early 2006. It was sitting out there lost in the Myspace archives. I had a lot of fun putting it together so I dusted it off and put it back up.

I wanted to discuss the process behind a page that I drew for my online graphic novel.
Things were about to get rather violent in the story and I wanted to create a dramatic page using techniques I either hadn’t explored before or at least hadn’t used in years.
I layed out the basic page in pencils using an HB lead in a STAEDLER MARS 780 mechanical pencil holder. I use those for all of my pencils.

You have to constantly sharpen these babies or have a rotation of 2 or 3 lead/holders going at all times. They get dull rather quickly. I don’t fill in the pencils but will sometimes leave x’s where large surfaces needed to be coated in black ink.

I stick closely to the pencils for inking. I draw in the thinner lines with a Hunts 102 Crowquill nib dipped in KOH-I-NOOR drawing ink. Then I follow that with thicker lines drawn in with a Hunts 108 nib.
I follow that with a piece-of-crap number 2 watercolor brush and go to town on the heavy black areas.

This is where the fun really starts.
I went to Kinkos and made four or five 11×17 photocopies of the inked page.
I hadn’t played with ink spattering for a few years and I didn’t have the balls to try it on the original art page so I went nuts on the photocopies.
1. I took an old toothbrush and filled it with India ink. I let her rip. I had to try it on several of the copies as my first attempts were disastrous.
2. I then took some of the scratchboard tools that I had in my inventory and ferociously cut lines through the SWAT trooper’s arm and torso.
3. From yet another photocopy of the original art I cut out the hand and gun from panel one and scotch-taped it onto panel two in front of the SWAT trooper’s head.
4. Finally I scanned in the results of the scratched, pasted and spattered 11×17 photocopy into our huge 12×17 inch tabloid scanner.

Here’s a closer look at the hacking and slashing I did on the ink work with a scratchboard knife.

I didn’t like the anatomical head that I had started pencilling in panel 1 so I drew another one on a separate piece of paper and scanned it in.

I pasted the scanned-in anatomy drawing page twice on the page. For the upper left corner of panel 2 I “Inverted” the image in Photoshop for the photo-negative effect.

And for the final stage I added in the sound effects and lettering.
I use a vector program to do this (such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW) and religiously use Comicraft fonts for dialogue and captions.

Then I posted it HERE
With my comic Battles, I’ve been keeping it pretty experimental, mixing media, adding digital elements but 90% of it has been hand-drawn using traditional methods. As it progresses into Chapter 3 and beyond I expect that to increase to 95% hand-drawn artwork as those are the pages that I’m happiest with.
It’s been a lot of fun so far.
-Jay

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